Applications within persistent hybrid collaborative workspaces

ABSTRACT

Techniques for providing using software applications within persistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspaces are provided. In an example, a method establishes a virtual collaborative workspace characterized by or more virtual collaborative workspace resources and associated with one or more users to interact with other users or collaborative workspace resources within the virtual collaborative workspace. The method further receives, from a client device associated with a first user associated with the virtual space, an identification of an application to use in the virtual collaborative workspace. The method, based on the receiving, adds the application to the virtual collaborative workspace and configures the application to access one or more resources associated with the virtual collaborative workspace. The method further provides access to the application within the virtual collaborative workspace to at least a subset of the users associated with the virtual collaborative workspace.

FIELD

This disclosure generally relates to videoconferences. Morespecifically, but not by way of limitation, this disclosure relates tousing software applications within persistent hybrid virtualcollaborative workspaces.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example system for providing videoconferencingfunctionality to client devices.

FIG. 2 depicts an example system in which a video conference providerprovides videoconferencing functionality to various client devices.

FIG. 3 shows an example system for providing one or more persistenthybrid virtual collaborative workspaces.

FIG. 4 shows a graphical user interface (“GUI”) view of a persistenthybrid virtual collaborative workspace provided by the video conferenceprovider.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example method for providing softwareapplications within a virtual collaborative workspace.

FIG. 6 depicts an example suggestion to use an application for usewithin a persistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspace.

FIG. 7 depicts an example selection of an application for use within apersistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspace.

FIG. 8 depicts an example mapping between documents, applications, andclient devices within a persistent hybrid virtual collaborativeworkspace.

FIG. 9 is an example set of permissions used for applications anddocuments within persistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspaces.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example system for providing persistent hybridvirtual workspaces.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example computing device for providing persistenthybrid virtual workspaces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed techniques relate to using software applications(“applications” or “apps”) within persistent hybrid virtualcollaborative workspaces. An example of a persistent hybridcollaborative workspace (a “workspace” or a “space”) is a virtualenvironment to which members can join and then interact with resourcesavailable within the space and/or interact with other users that areconnected to the space. Persistency in this context can refer to a stateof the space being stored such that it can be retrieved and recreated ina virtual context. Hybrid in this context can refer to a mixedenvironment of physical conference rooms that may be attached to theworkspace and enable interaction with the workspace as well as devicesconnected to the workspace from any suitable location. Thus, the hybridworkspace provides a virtual analog to a physical space, but that can beaccessed via any suitable means.

Virtual spaces enable users to work in a persistent collaborativeenvironment where they can interact with each other in real-time throughimpromptu video meetings, text chats, or by collaborating on documents,data, or other information maintained within the space. Members of thespace can connect to and leave the space at their leisure, while thespace persists independently of any members who are connected. One ormore software applications can be made available in, or joined to, aspace to enable members of the space to access and use the applicationwithin the context of the space. In some cases, these applications canbe selected by a particular user, such as a host user or moderator. Inother cases, various applications are available for selection by anyuser of the space. When selected, a given application can accessitems(or resources) in the space such as documents, messages, and thevideo stream.

Each instance of an application in a virtual space can have a persistentstate that is maintained over time and between users. For instance, afirst user may work with an application within the space, exit thespace, and then later return to the space and continue to work with theapplication and related documents. Similarly, a second user may work on(e.g., access, view, or edit) the same application or document such thatthe first user may later pick up where the second user left off, and soforth. Therefore, enabling applications within spaces can enable aremore full-featured and productive experience for the members of thespace.

Further, access to applications within spaces be enabled or restrictedfor different users and/or client devices, just as the case with spacesthemselves. For example, a given application within a space can have anassociated set of permissions, including permissions for each user inthe space. For example, some users could be granted read, write, andedit permission while other users are granted simply read permission.Additionally, the set of permissions can interact with a set ofpermissions for documents within the space. for example, a givenapplication may be restricted from accessing certain documents withinthe space, and/or specific users may have different permissions fordifferent documents within the space.

Turning now to the Figures, FIG. 1 depicts an example system 100 forproviding videoconferencing functionality to client devices. In theexample depicted by system 100, video conference provider 110 hosts oneor more video conferences between client devices 140-180. As furtherdescribed herein, video conference provider 110 can facilitate access toapplications within a persistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspace.For instance, one or more applications can be accessed on client devices140-180 within the workspace.

The system 100 includes a video conference provider 110 that isconnected to multiple communication networks 120, 130, through whichvarious client devices 140-180 can participate in video conferenceshosted by the video conference provider 110. For example, the videoconference provider 110 can be located within a private network toprovide video conferencing services to devices within the privatenetwork, or it can be connected to a public network, e.g., the internet,so it may be accessed by anyone. Other configurations include a hybridmodel in which a video conference provider 110 may supply components toenable a private organization to host private internal video conferencesor to connect its system to the video conference provider 110 over apublic network. Any of client devices 140-180 can participate in apersistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspace.

System 100 optionally includes one or more user identity providers,e.g., user identity provider 115, which can provide user identityservices to users of the client devices 140-160 and may authenticateuser identities of one or more users to the video conference provider110. In this example, the user identity provider 115 is operated by adifferent entity than the video conference provider 110, though in someexamples, they may be the same entity. In some cases, the identityprovider 115 can maintain a database or list of conference users who arepermitted to join a given persistent hybrid virtual collaborativeworkspace, access particular applications and/or documents within thepersistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspace, and/or use theapplications to access documents within the persistent hybrid virtualcollaborative workspace.

Video conference provider 110 allows clients to create videoconferencemeetings (or “meetings”) and invite others to participate in thosemeetings as well as perform other related functionality, such asrecording the meetings, generating transcripts from meeting audio,generating summaries and translations from meeting audio, generatingsummaries and translations from meeting audio, manage user functionalityin the meetings, enable text messaging during the meetings, create andmanage breakout rooms from the main meeting, etc. FIG. 2 , describedbelow, provides a more detailed description of the architecture andfunctionality of the video conference provider 110. It should beunderstood that the term “meeting” encompasses the term “webinar” usedherein.

Meetings facilitated by video conference provider 110 are provided invirtual rooms to which participants are connected. A room in thiscontext is a construct provided by a server that provides a common pointat which the various video and audio data is received before beingmultiplexed and provided to the various participants. While a “room” isthe label for this concept in this disclosure, any suitablefunctionality that enables multiple participants to participate in acommon videoconference may be used. Further, in some examples, and asalluded to above, a meeting may also have “a sidebar meeting.” A sidebarmeeting as provided herein may be a “room” that is associated with a“main” videoconference room or “main meeting.” A sidebar meeting can bea part of a persistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspace andsimilarly, a persistent hybrid collaborative workspace can be formedfrom a sidebar meeting.

To create a meeting with the video conference provider 110, a user maycontact the video conference provider 110 using a client device 140-180and select an option to create a new meeting. Such an option may beprovided in a webpage accessed by a client device 140-180 or clientapplication executed by a client device 140-180. For telephony devices,the user may be presented with an audio menu that they may navigate bypressing numeric buttons on their telephony device.

To create a meeting, the video conference provider 110 may prompt theuser for certain information, such as a date, time, and duration for themeeting, a number of participants, a type of encryption to use, whetherthe meeting is confidential or open to the public, whether persistenthybrid virtual collaborative workspaces will be used, and so forth.After receiving the various meeting settings, the video conferenceprovider may create a record for the meeting and generate a meetingidentifier and, in some examples, a corresponding meeting password orpasscode (or other authentication information), all of which meetinginformation is provided to the meeting host.

After receiving the meeting information, the user may distribute themeeting information to one or more users to invite them to the meeting.To begin the meeting at the scheduled time (or immediately, if themeeting was set for an immediate start), the host provides the meetingidentifier and, if applicable, corresponding authentication information(e.g., a password or passcode). The video conference system theninitiates the meeting and may admit users to the meeting. Depending onthe options set for the meeting, the users may be admitted immediatelyupon providing the appropriate meeting identifier (and authenticationinformation, as appropriate), even if the host has not yet arrived, orthe users may be presented with information indicating that the meetinghas not yet started or the host may be required to specifically admitone or more of the users.

During the meeting, the participants may employ their client devices140-180 to capture audio or video information and stream thatinformation to the video conference provider 110. They also receiveaudio or video information from the video conference provider 210, whichis displayed by the respective client device 140-180 to enable thevarious users to participate in the meeting. These audio and videostreams, in addition to shared applications, shared documents, and otherresources, can form a part of a persistent hybrid virtual collaborativeworkspace.

At the end of the meeting, the host may select an option to terminatethe meeting, or it may terminate automatically at a scheduled end timeor after a predetermined duration. When the meeting terminates, thevarious participants are disconnected from the meeting and they will nolonger receive audio or video streams for the meeting (and will stoptransmitting audio or video streams). The video conference provider 110may also invalidate the meeting information, such as the meetingidentifier or password/passcode.

To provide such functionality, one or more client devices 140-180 maycommunicate with the video conference provider 110 using one or morecommunication networks, such as communication network 120 or the publicswitched telephone network (“PSTN”) 130. The client devices 140-180 maybe any suitable computing or communications device that have audio orvideo capability. For example, client devices 140-180 may beconventional computing devices, such as desktop or laptop computershaving processors and computer-readable media, connected to the videoconference provider 110 using the internet or other suitable computernetwork. Suitable networks include the internet, any local area network(“LAN”), metro area network (“MAN”), wide area network (“WAN”), cellularnetwork (e.g., 3G, 4G, 4G LTE, 5G, etc.), or any combination of these.Other types of computing devices may be used instead or as well, such astablets, smartphones, and dedicated video conferencing equipment. Eachof these devices may provide both audio and video capabilities and mayenable one or more users to participate in a video conference meetinghosted by the video conference provider 110.

In addition to the computing devices discussed above, client devices140-180 may also include one or more telephony devices, such as cellulartelephones (e.g., cellular telephone 170), internet protocol (“IP”)phones (e.g., telephone 180), or conventional telephones. Such telephonydevices may allow a user to make conventional telephone calls to othertelephony devices using the PSTN, including the video conferenceprovider 110. It should be appreciated that certain computing devicesmay also provide telephony functionality and may operate as telephonydevices. For example, smartphones typically provide cellular telephonecapabilities and thus may operate as telephony devices in system 100shown in FIG. 1 . In addition, conventional computing devices mayexecute software to enable telephony functionality, which may allow theuser to make and receive phone calls, e.g., using a headset andmicrophone. Such software may communicate with a PSTN gateway to routethe call from a computer network to the PSTN. Thus, telephony devicesencompass any devices that can making conventional telephone calls andis not limited solely to dedicated telephony devices like conventionaltelephones.

Client devices 140-160 contact the video conference provider 110 usingcommunication network 120 and may provide information to the videoconference provider 110 to access functionality provided by the videoconference provider 110, such as access to create new meetings or joinexisting meetings. To do so, the client devices 140-160 may provide useridentification information, meeting identifiers, meeting passwords orpasscodes, etc. In examples that employ a user identity provider 115, aclient device, e.g., client devices 140-160, may operate in conjunctionwith a user identity provider 115 to provide user identificationinformation or other user information to the video conference provider110.

A user identity provider 115 may be any entity trusted by the videoconference provider 110 that can help identify a user to the videoconference provider 110. For example, a trusted entity may be a serveroperated by a business or other organization and with whom the user hasestablished their identity, such as an employer or trusted third-party.The user may sign into the user identity provider 115, such as byproviding a username and password, to access their identity at the useridentity provider 115. The identity, in this sense, is informationestablished and maintained at the user identity provider 115 that can beused to identify a particular user, irrespective of the client devicethey may be using. An example of an identity may be an email accountestablished at the user identity provider 115 by the user and secured bya password or additional security features, such as biometricauthentication, two-factor authentication, etc. However, identities maybe distinct from functionality such as email. For example, a health careprovider may establish identities for its patients. And while suchidentities may have associated email accounts, the identity is distinctfrom those email accounts. Thus, a user's “identity” relates to asecure, verified set of information that is tied to a particular userand should be accessible only by that user. By accessing the identity,the associated user may then verify themselves to other computingdevices or services, such as the video conference provider 110.

When the user accesses the video conference provider 110 using a clientdevice, the video conference provider 110 communicates with the useridentity provider 115 using information provided by the user to verifythe user's identity. For example, the user may provide a username orcryptographic signature associated with a user identity provider 115.The user identity provider 115 then either confirms the user's identityor denies the request. Based on this response, the video conferenceprovider 110 either provides or denies access to its services,respectively.

For telephony devices, e.g., client devices 170-180, the user may placea telephone call to the video conference provider 110 to access videoconference services. After the call is answered, the user may provideinformation regarding a video conference meeting, e.g., a meetingidentifier (“ID”), a passcode or password, etc., to allow the telephonydevice to join the meeting and participate using audio devices of thetelephony device, e.g., microphone(s) and speaker(s), even if videocapabilities are not provided by the telephony device.

Because telephony devices typically have more limited functionality thanconventional computing devices, they may be unable to provide certaininformation to the video conference provider 110. For example, telephonydevices may be unable to provide user identification information toidentify the telephony device or the user to the video conferenceprovider 110. Thus, the video conference provider 110 may provide morelimited functionality to such telephony devices. For example, the usermay be permitted to join a meeting after providing meeting information,e.g., a meeting identifier and passcode, but they may be identified onlyas an anonymous participant in the meeting. This may restrict theirability to interact with the meetings in some examples, such as bylimiting their ability to speak in the meeting, hear or view certaincontent shared during the meeting, or access other meetingfunctionality, such as joining breakout rooms or engaging in textmessaging with other participants in the meeting.

It should be appreciated that users may choose to participate inmeetings anonymously and decline to provide user identificationinformation to the video conference provider 110, even in cases wherethe user has an authenticated identity and employs a client devicecapable of identifying the user to the video conference provider 110.The video conference provider 110 may determine whether to allow suchanonymous users to use services provided by the video conferenceprovider 110. Anonymous users, regardless of the reason for anonymity,may be restricted as discussed above with respect to users employingtelephony devices, and in some cases may be prevented from accessingcertain meetings or other services, or may be entirely prevented fromaccessing the video conference provider 110.

Referring again to video conference provider 110, in some examples, itmay allow client devices 140-160 to encrypt their respective video andaudio streams to help improve privacy in their meetings. Encryption maybe provided between the client devices 140-160 and the video conferenceprovider 110 or it may be provided in an end-to-end configuration wheremultimedia streams (e.g., audio or video streams) transmitted by theclient devices 140-160 are not decrypted until they are received byanother client device 140-160 participating in the meeting. Encryptionmay also be provided during only a portion of a communication, forexample encryption may be used for otherwise unencrypted communicationsthat cross international borders.

Client-to-server encryption may be used to secure the communicationsbetween the client devices 140-160 and the video conference provider110, while allowing the video conference provider 110 to access thedecrypted multimedia streams to perform certain processing, such asrecording the meeting for the participants or generating transcripts ofthe meeting for the participants. End-to-end encryption may be used tokeep the meeting entirely private to the participants without any worryabout a video conference provider 110 having access to the substance ofthe meeting. Any suitable encryption methodology may be employed,including key-pair encryption of the streams. For example, to provideend-to-end encryption, the meeting host's client device may obtainpublic keys for each of the other client devices participating in themeeting and securely exchange a set of keys to encrypt and decryptmultimedia content transmitted during the meeting. Thus the clientdevices 140-160 may securely communicate with each other during themeeting. Further, in some examples, certain types of encryption may belimited by the types of devices participating in the meeting. Forexample, telephony devices may lack the ability to encrypt and decryptmultimedia streams. Thus, while encrypting the multimedia streams may bedesirable in many instances, it is not required as it may prevent someusers from participating in a meeting.

FIG. 2 depicts an example system 200 in which a video conferenceprovider 210 provides videoconferencing functionality to various clientdevices 220-250. The client devices 220-250 include two client devices220-230 that are conventional computing devices, dedicated equipment fora video conference room 240, and a telephony device 250. Videoconference provider 210 can enable applications within persistent hybridvirtual collaborative workspaces.

Each client device 220-250 communicates with the video conferenceprovider 210 over a communications network, such as the internet forclient devices 220-240 or the PSTN for client device 250, generally asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 1 . The video conference provider210 is also in communication with one or more user identity providers215, which can authenticate various users to the video conferenceprovider 210 generally as described above with respect to FIG. 1 .

In this example, the video conference provider 210 employs differentservers (or groups of servers) to provide video conference functionalityand persistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspace functionality. Thevideo conference provider 210 uses one or more real-time media servers212, one or more network services servers 214, one or more video roomgateway servers 216, and one or more telephony gateway servers 218. Eachof these servers 212-218 is connected to one or more communicationsnetworks to enable them to collectively provide access to andparticipation in one or more video conference meetings to the clientdevices 220-250.

Real-time media servers 212 provide multiplexed multimedia streams tomeeting participants, such as client devices 220-250. While video andaudio streams typically originate at the respective client devices, theyare transmitted from the client devices 220-250 to the video conferenceprovider 210 via one or more networks where they are received by thereal-time media servers 212. The real-time media servers 212 determinewhich protocol is optimal based on, for example, proxy settings and thepresence of firewalls, etc. For example, the client device might selectamong UDP, TCP, TLS, or HTTPS for audio and video and UDP for contentscreen sharing.

The real-time media servers 212 then multiplex the various video andaudio streams based on the target client device and communicatemultiplexed streams to each client device. For example, the real-timemedia servers 212 receive audio and video streams from client devices220-240 and only an audio stream from client device 250. The real-timemedia servers 212 then multiplex the streams received from devices230-250 and provide the multiplexed stream to client device 220. Thereal-time media servers 212 are adaptive, for example, reacting toreal-time network and client changes, in how they provide these streams.For example, the real-time media servers 212 may monitor parameters suchas a client's bandwidth CPU usage, memory and network I/O as well asnetwork parameters such as packet loss, latency and jitter to determinehow to modify the way in which streams are provided.

The client device 220 receives the stream, performs any decryption,decoding, and demultiplexing on the received streams, and then outputsthe audio and video using the client device's video and audio devices.In this example, the real-time media servers do not multiplex the videofrom client device 220 and audio feeds when transmitting streams toclient device 220. Instead each client device 220-250 only receivesmultimedia streams from other client devices 220-250. For telephonydevices that lack video capabilities, e.g., client device 250, thereal-time media servers 212 only deliver multiplex audio streams. Theclient device 220 may receive multiple streams for a particularcommunication, allowing the client device 220 to switch between streamsto provide a higher quality of service.

In addition to multiplexing multimedia streams, the real-time mediaservers 212 may also decrypt incoming multimedia stream in someexamples. As discussed above, multimedia streams may be encryptedbetween the client devices 220-250 and the video conference provider210. In some such examples, the real-time media servers 212 may decryptincoming multimedia streams, multiplex the multimedia streamsappropriately for the various clients, and encrypt the multiplexedstreams for transmission.

As mentioned above with respect to FIG. 1 , the video conferenceprovider 210 may provide certain functionality with respect tounencrypted multimedia streams at a user's request. For example, themeeting host may be able to request that the meeting be recorded or thata transcript of the audio streams be prepared, which may then beperformed by the real-time media servers 212 using the decryptedmultimedia streams, or the recording or transcription functionality maybe off-loaded to a dedicated server (or servers), e.g., cloud recordingservers, for recording the audio and video streams. In some examples,the video conference provider 210 may allow a meeting participant tonotify it of inappropriate behavior or content in a meeting. Such anotification may trigger the real-time media servers to 212 record aportion of the meeting for review by the video conference provider 210.Still other functionality may be implemented to take actions based onthe decrypted multimedia streams at the video conference provider, suchas monitoring video or audio quality, adjusting or changing mediaencoding mechanisms, etc.

It should be appreciated that multiple real-time media servers 212 maybe involved in communicating data for a single meeting and multimediastreams may be routed through multiple different real-time media servers212. In addition, the various real-time media servers 212 may not beco-located, but instead may be located at multiple different geographiclocations, which may enable high-quality communications between clientsthat are dispersed over wide geographic areas, such as being located indifferent countries or on different continents. Further, in someexamples, one or more of these servers may be co-located on a client'spremises, e.g., at a business or other organization. For example,different geographic regions may each have one or more real-time mediaservers 212 to enable client devices in the same geographic region tohave a high-quality connection into the video conference provider 210via real-time media servers 212 to send and receive multimedia streams,rather than connecting to a real-time media server located in adifferent country or on a different continent. The local real-time mediaservers 212 may then communicate with physically distant servers usinghigh-speed network infrastructure, e.g., internet backbone network(s),that otherwise might not be directly available to client devices 220-250themselves. Thus, routing multimedia streams may be distributedthroughout the video conference provider 210 and across many differentreal-time media servers 212.

Network services servers 214 provide administrative functionality toenable client devices to create or participate in meetings, send meetinginvitations, create or manage user accounts or subscriptions, and otherrelated functionality. Further, these servers may be configured toperform different functionalities or to operate at different levels of ahierarchy, e.g., for specific regions or localities, to manage portionsof the video conference provider under a supervisory set of servers.When a client device 220-250 accesses the video conference provider 210,it will typically communicate with one or more network services servers214 to access their account or to participate in a meeting.

When a client device 220-250 first contacts the video conferenceprovider 210 in this example, it is routed to a network services server214. The client device may then provide access credentials for a user,e.g., a username and password or single sign-on credentials, to gainauthenticated access to the video conference provider 210. This processmay involve the network services servers 214 contacting a user identityprovider 215 to verify the provided credentials. Once the user'scredentials have been accepted, the network services servers 214 mayperform administrative functionality, like updating user accountinformation, if the user has an identity with the video conferenceprovider 210, or scheduling a new meeting, by interacting with thenetwork services servers 214.

In some examples, users may access the video conference provider 210anonymously. When communicating anonymously, a client device 220-250 maycommunicate with one or more network services servers 214 but onlyprovide information to create or join a meeting, depending on whatfeatures the video conference provider allows for anonymous users. Forexample, an anonymous user may access the video conference providerusing client device 220 and provide a meeting ID and passcode. Thenetwork services server 214 may use the meeting ID to identify anupcoming or on-going meeting and verify the passcode is correct for themeeting ID. After doing so, the network services servers 214 may thencommunicate information to the client device 220 to enable the clientdevice 220 to join the meeting and communicate with appropriatereal-time media servers 212.

In cases where a user wishes to schedule a meeting, the user (anonymousor authenticated) may select an option to schedule a new meeting and maythen select various meeting options, such as the date and time for themeeting, the duration for the meeting, a type of encryption to be used,one or more users to invite, privacy controls (e.g., not allowinganonymous users, preventing screen sharing, manually authorize admissionto the meeting, etc.), meeting recording options, etc. The networkservices servers 214 may then create and store a meeting record for thescheduled meeting. When the scheduled meeting time arrives (or within athreshold period of time in advance), the network services servers 214may accept requests to join the meeting from various users.

To handle requests to join a meeting, the network services servers 214may receive meeting information, such as a meeting ID and passcode, fromone or more client devices 220-250. The network services servers 214locate a meeting record corresponding to the provided meeting ID andthen confirm whether the scheduled start time for the meeting hasarrived, whether the meeting host has started the meeting, and whetherthe passcode matches the passcode in the meeting record. If the requestis made by the host, the network services servers 214 activates themeeting and connects the host to a real-time media server 212 to enablethe host to begin sending and receiving multimedia streams.

Once the host has started the meeting, subsequent users requestingaccess will be admitted to the meeting if the meeting record is locatedand the passcode matches the passcode supplied by the requesting clientdevice 220-250. In some examples additional access controls may be usedas well. But if the network services servers 214 determines to admit therequesting client device 220-250 to the meeting, the network servicesserver 214 identifies a real-time media server 212 to handle multimediastreams to and from the requesting client device 220-250 and providesinformation to the client device 220-250 to connect to the identifiedreal-time media server 212. Client devices 220-250 may be added to themeeting as they request access through the network services servers 214.

After joining a meeting, client devices will send and receive multimediastreams via the real-time media servers 212, but they may alsocommunicate with the network services servers 214 as needed duringmeetings. For example, if the meeting host leaves the meeting, thenetwork services servers 214 may appoint another user as the new meetinghost and assign host administrative privileges to that user. Hosts mayhave administrative privileges to allow them to manage their meetings,such as by enabling or disabling screen sharing, muting or removingusers from the meeting, assigning or moving users to the mainstage or abreakout room if present, recording meetings, etc. Such functionalitymay be managed by the network services servers 214.

For example, if a host wishes to remove a user from a meeting, they mayidentify the user and issue a command through a user interface on theirclient device. The command may be sent to a network services server 214,which may then disconnect the identified user from the correspondingreal-time media server 212.

In addition to creating and administering on-going meetings, the networkservices servers 214 may also be responsible for closing andtearing-down meetings once they have completed. For example, the meetinghost may issue a command to end an on-going meeting, which is sent to anetwork services server 214. The network services server 214 may thenremove any remaining participants from the meeting, communicate with oneor more real time media servers 212 to stop streaming audio and videofor the meeting, and deactivate, e.g., by deleting a correspondingpasscode for the meeting from the meeting record, or delete the meetingrecord(s) corresponding to the meeting. Thus, if a user later attemptsto access the meeting, the network services servers 214 may deny therequest.

Depending on the functionality provided by the video conferenceprovider, the network services servers 214 may provide additionalfunctionality, such as by providing private meeting capabilities fororganizations, special types of meetings (e.g., webinars), etc. Suchfunctionality may be provided according to various examples of videoconferencing providers according to this description.

Referring now to the video room gateway servers 216, these video roomgateway servers 216 provide an interface between dedicated videoconferencing hardware, such as may be used in dedicated videoconferencing rooms. Such video conferencing hardware may include one ormore cameras and microphones and a computing device designed to receivevideo and audio streams from each of the cameras and microphones andconnect with the video conference provider 210. For example, the videoconferencing hardware may be provided by the video conference providerto one or more of its subscribers, which may provide access credentialsto the video conferencing hardware to use to connect to the videoconference provider 210.

The video room gateway servers 216 provide specialized authenticationand communication with the dedicated video conferencing hardware thatmay not be available to other client devices 220-230, 250. For example,the video conferencing hardware may register with the video conferenceprovider when it is first installed and the video room gateway mayauthenticate the video conferencing hardware using such registration aswell as information provided to the video room gateway servers 216 whendedicated video conferencing hardware connects to it, such as device IDinformation, subscriber information, hardware capabilities, hardwareversion information etc. Upon receiving such information andauthenticating the dedicated video conferencing hardware, the video roomgateway servers 216 may interact with the network services servers 214and real-time media servers 212 to allow the video conferencing hardwareto create or join meetings hosted by the video conference provider 210.

The telephony gateway servers 218 enable and facilitate telephonydevices' participation in meetings hosed by the video conferenceprovider 210. Because telephony devices communicate using the PSTN andnot using computer networking protocols, such as TCP/IP, the telephonygateway servers 218 act as an interface that converts between the PSTNand the networking system used by the video conference provider 210.

For example, if a user uses a telephony device to connect to a meeting,they may dial a phone number corresponding to one of the videoconference provider's telephony gateway servers 218. The telephonygateway server 218 will answer the call and generate audio messagesrequesting information from the user, such as a meeting ID and passcode.The user may enter such information using buttons on the telephonydevice, e.g., by sending dual-tone multi-frequency (“DTMF”) audiosignals to the telephony gateway server 218. The telephony gatewayserver 218 determines the numbers or letters entered by the user andprovides the meeting ID and passcode information to the network servicesservers 214, along with a request to join or start the meeting,generally as described above. Once the telephony client device 250 hasbeen accepted into a meeting, the telephony gateway server 218 isinstead joined to the meeting on the telephony device's behalf.

After joining the meeting, the telephony gateway server 218 receives anaudio stream from the telephony device and provides it to thecorresponding real-time media server 212, and receives audio streamsfrom the real-time media server 212, decodes them, and provides thedecoded audio to the telephony device. Thus, the telephony gatewayservers 218 operate essentially as client devices, while the telephonydevice operates largely as an input/output device, e.g., a microphoneand speaker, for the corresponding telephony gateway server 218, therebyenabling the user of the telephony device to participate in the meetingdespite not using a computing device or video.

It should be appreciated that the components of the video conferenceprovider 210 discussed above are merely examples of such devices and anexample architecture. Some video conference providers may provide moreor less functionality than described above and may not separatefunctionality into different types of servers as discussed above.Instead, any suitable servers and network architectures may be usedaccording to different examples.

Referring now to FIG. 3 , FIG. 3 shows an example system 300 forproviding one or more persistent hybrid virtual collaborativeworkspaces. The system 300 shown in FIG. 3 includes a video conferenceprovider 310 that has established and maintains multiple virtual spaces350. The system 300 also includes multiple client device 330 and 340A-Nthat are connected to the video conference provider 310 via a network.In this example, the network 320 is the internet; however, anycommunications network or combination of communications networks may beemployed. While the system 300 is depicted as including multiple clientdevice 330, 340A-N, it should be appreciated that some example systemsmay not include any client devices at any particular time. Rather, thevideo conference provider 310, which establishes and maintains virtualspaces 350, may be sufficient as a system for persistent hybrid virtualcollaborative workspaces, to which one or more client devices mayconnect.

The video conference provider 310 establishes new spaces at the requestof corresponding users and stores one or more records in a database or adata store to represent the configuration and state of the space, whichcan include a configuration and state of any applications in the space.For example, when a space is first established, it may not have anyresources or members, other than the user who requested that the spacebe created. However, as documents, other users, meetings, or othercontent are added to or created within the space, the video conferenceprovider 310 may add links or references to those resources or users.Thus, in some examples, the various resources may not be stored withinthe database or even stored by the video conference provider 310.Instead, the space provides a nexus through which such resources may beaccessed, such as by traversing a universal resource locator (“URL”), byaccessing a document within a document management system or stored in alocal networked storage area. However, it should be appreciated thatsome examples may store individual resources as records within thedatabase along with the configuration and state of the space itself.

Each of the virtual spaces 350 established and maintained by the videoconference provider 310 allows members of the respective space toconnect to the space, interact with resources available within thespace, and interact with other users that are connected to the space.However, each of the virtual spaces 350 persists independently ofwhether any users are connected to the space or resources are availablewithin the space. Thus, the space remains latent and available for useby any member of the space at any time.

Referring now to FIG. 4 , FIG. 4 shows a graphical user interface(“GUI”) 400 view of a virtual space 410 provided by the video conferenceprovider 310. The virtual space 410 in this example, which can be apersistent hybrid virtual space, has multiple team members 420A-C thathave been added to the virtual space 410. In addition, the GUI 400provides the option 424 to add additional team members to the virtualspace 410. The virtual space 410 has also been updated to include fourdocuments 430A-D, which may be accessed by members of the virtual space410. The virtual space has also been configured to allow team members420A-C to add documents to the virtual space by using the “Add Document”option and to create and participate in video conferences within thespace by using the “Start Call” option. Similarly, when a videoconference is in-progress within the virtual space 410, the GUI 400provides video conference representation 450. This allows team members420A-C of the space to see that a video conference is in-progress andwho is within the video conference. The GUI 400 also provides the optionto join the call via the “Join Call” button. The virtual space 410 hasalso been configured with chat functionality via messages 440 to allowthe members 440A-C to interact via text chat. Team members 420A-C canuse one or more applications as provided in applications 460.Applications 460 includes applications 464A-N. Any number ofapplications is possible. Examples of applications include documenteditors and collaboration tools. Applications 464A-N can includeapplications suggested by other users (e.g., via the GUI depicted inFIG. 6 ) suggested by video conference provider 310, or alreadyinstalled on a client device.

Further, the virtual space 410 provides a “View History” option to allowthe team members 420A-C to view past events within the space, such asrecordings of past video conferences, chat interactions, when teammembers have joined or left the space, which applications were accessedincluding documents accessed via the applications, or other events ofinterest.

In addition to providing access to the resources discussed above, thevirtual space 410 can also provide status information to assist teammembers in understanding the current state of the virtual space. Forexample, as discussed above, the GUI 400 representation of the virtualspace 410 provides a status indication that a video conferencerepresented in video conference representation 450 is in-progress. Inthis example, the GUI 400 provides a static, stylized representation ofa video conference, but the representation does not actually provide anycontent from the video conference. Instead, a team member 420A-C wouldneed to join the video conference to obtain audio or video feeds orother information shared within the conference. However, in someexamples the video conference representation 450 may show the content ofthe video conference. Thus, the team members 420A-C may be able to seethe video feeds within the video conference representation 450 or, byselecting an option, may be able to hear the audio from the videoconference without actually joining the video conference. When a teammember 420A-C is observing a video conference in such a manner, theparticipants within the video conference may be notified that the teammember is observing the video conference. Further, some examples mayprovide options to activate a microphone and camera as an implicitcommand to join the meeting. Thus, a team member may observe an on-goingconference and, if they elect to join, may simply activate theirmicrophone and camera to join the meeting and begin contributing. Suchfunctionality may more closely resemble an in-person meeting in aconference room where team members passing by may notice the meeting andspontaneously decide to join. Alternatively, the participants in themeeting may note that the team member is observing meeting and may senda request to the team member to join the meeting.

Other status information may be provided as well. For example, each ofthe team members is represented within the virtual space 410 by astylized portrait of team member 420A-C along with a correspondingstatus indicator 422A-C. The status indicators may indicate the currentstatus of the team members 420A-C. For example, team member 420 c has adark status indicator 422 c, indicating that the team member 420 c isoffline. Team member 420 b has a bright status indicator, indicatingthat they are online and active, while team member 420 a has a dimmedstatus indicator, indicating that they are online, but inactive. Thus, ateam member can easily determine whether other team members areavailable for collaboration. Similarly, documents or other resources mayprovide indications of whether one or more members of the space isaccessing the document or resource. For example, document 430 a is beingaccessed by two members of the virtual space 410 as illustrated bystatus indicators 432A-B. To gain more information about which membersare accessing the document, a user may select one of the statusindicators 432A-B to obtain information about the corresponding member,such as the member's name. Still other status information may beprovided according to other examples. As discussed, virtual spaces caninclude applications. FIG. 5 depicts an example method for facilitatingapplications within a virtual space.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example method for providing softwareapplications within a virtual collaborative workspace. Method 500 can beimplemented by video conference provider 110, video conference provider210, video conference provider 310, or another system. The descriptionof method 500 is made with reference to FIGS. 3, 4, 6, and 7 for examplepurposes only.

It should be appreciated that method 500 provides a particular methodrelating to applications in persistent hybrid virtual collaborativeworkspaces. Other sequences of operations may also be performedaccording to alternative embodiments. For example, alternativeembodiments of the present invention may perform the steps outlinedabove in a different order. Moreover, the individual steps illustratedby method 500 may include multiple sub-operations that may be performedin various sequences as appropriate to the individual operation.Furthermore, additional operations may be added or removed depending onthe particular applications. One of ordinary skill in the art wouldrecognize many variations, modifications, and alternatives.

At block 502, method 500 involves establishing a virtual collaborativeworkspace characterized by or more virtual collaborative workspaceresources and associated with one or more users to interact with otherusers or collaborative workspace resources within the virtualcollaborative workspace. For example, referring back to FIG. 3 , videoconference provider 310 establishes a virtual space 350 to enablemembers to use their client devices 330 and 340A-N to connect with thespace, interact with each other, or access documents stored within thespace.

Spaces can include one or more workspace resources. Examples ofresources include a virtual collaborative workspace status thatindicates whether the virtual collaborative workplace is active; a listof users associated with the virtual collaborative workspace andassociated user states; one or more shared documents, video streams, andtextual messages. These resources are depicted in FIG. 4 , for example,members 420A-C and status indicators 422A-C, documents 430A-D, messages440, and video conference representation 450, but can be also visualizedin a different manner or not visualized.

As discussed, video conference provider 310 maintains a state of thevirtual space, which includes a state of the resources within the space.For instance, if the workspace includes documents, then video conferenceprovider 310 maintains the state of these documents such that users canenter and exit the space, pick up where they left off, and see changesmade to the document by other users. The state of the virtual space canalso include messages, video streams, and applications. For instance,video conference provider 310 maintains the state of each application inthe space such that a first user on a first client device can make achange to the application and the change is propagated to other clientdevices. Accordingly, video conference provider 310, periodically orupon demand, transmits and receives the state of the space and itsresources to and from any client devices that are connected to it. Moredetails are discussed with respect to system 1000 depicted in FIG. 10 .

At block 504, method 500 involves receiving, from a client deviceassociated with a first user associated with the virtual collaborativeworkspace, an identification of an application to use in the virtualcollaborative workspace. FIG. 6 depicts an example GUI via which aclient device can select an application for use in the space.

FIG. 6 depicts an example suggestion to use an application for usewithin a persistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspace. FIG. 6depicts GUI 610. GUI 600 depicts virtual space 610. Relative to virtualspace 410, virtual space 610 includes suggestion prompt 614 andapplications 660, which is populated with open apps 664A-B, installedapps 668A-B, and available apps 668A-B. GUI 600 may be displayed onclient devices, e.g. client device 340A. Meeting window 600 can alsoinclude various conference controls (not depicted).

A user of client device 340A can select an application from theapplications in application window 660. These apps may be executed andcontrolled from the video conference application. For instance, the usercan select an application from the installed apps 666A-B or theavailable apps 668A-B. If the user selects an application from theavailable apps 668A-B, then the client device can automatically installthe app. Open apps 664A-B indicates the apps that are already open (andin the space).

In the example depicted in FIG. 6 , when the user selects an app,suggestion prompt 614 appears with the text “suggest this applicationfor use in the workspace?” The user may then select the select or “yes”button 616, which causes the app to be suggested to the other clientdevices in the space, or the decline or “no” button 618, which does notcause the app to be suggested to the other uses. In some examples, theopen apps 664A-B may run directly within the video conferencingapplication. In other cases, the video conferencing application maylaunch an embedded web browser to run one or more apps. In some cases,suggestion prompt 614 can appear layered on a different view of theworkspace.

In some cases, a particular client device may be restricted fromsuggesting particular applications or from suggesting applications atall. For example, video conference provider 310 can maintain asuggestion permissions list that controls which users and/or devices maysuggest applications to other users. For instance, in some cases, only auser designated as a host or moderator may be permitted to suggestapplications to other users. Accordingly, in some examples, subsequentto receiving an identification of a suggested application to use in theworkspace, video conference provider 310 can verify permissions andeither permit or deny the suggestion as appropriate.

Continuing the example, user of client device 340A selects application664A for use in the workspace. In turn, client device 340A transmits theselection to video conference provider 310. Video conference provider310 receives the selection from client device 340A.

Returning to FIG. 5 , at block 506, method 500 involves, based onreceiving the identification or selection, adding the application to thevirtual collaborative workspace and configuring the application toaccess one or more resources associated with the virtual collaborativeworkspace. Continuing the example, video conference provider 310 addsthe application to the virtual collaborative workspace such that otherusers may access the application. The application can be visualized in aGUI, for instance, GUI 400, as an application in the list ofapplications 460, on the other users' client devices.

Once the selected application is added to the space, video conferenceprovider 310 can also configure the application to access resources suchas shared documents, video streams, textual messages, and so forth. Asdiscussed, the respective states of these resources become part of thestate of the virtual collaborative workspace.

At block 508, method 500 involves providing access to the applicationwithin the virtual collaborative workspace to at least a subset of theusers associated with the virtual collaborative workspace. Continuingthe example, video conference provider 310 provides, or enables accessto one or more of client devices 330 and 340A-N to application 664A.Again, particular users may or may not be granted permission to use aparticular application. An example of user and device permissions isdepicted in FIG. 9 .

In some cases, video conference provider 310 can send a signal to one ormore client devices, causing the application to be installedautomatically. The selected application can be automatically added tothe GUI of the other client devices, e.g., client devices 330 and340B-N.

But in other cases, the selected application is provided as a suggestionto each client device 330 and 340B-N, subject to approval by therespective user. For example, an install prompt window may appear on theGUI of client devices 330 and 340B-N and display information regardingthe suggested application. The information may include a name of theapp, the name of the meeting host, or other relevant information. FIG. 7provides an example of such a GUI.

FIG. 7 depicts an example selection of an application for use within apersistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspace. Similar to FIG. 6 ,FIG. 7 depicts GUI 700, which includes applications 760 and anacceptance prompt 614 which suggests an application to install.

The acceptance prompt 614 appears on the GUI of client devices 340B-N.The prompt reads “a host has suggested this application ‘widget’ for usein the workspace. Install?” Continuing the example, the user of clientdevice 340B then select the “yes” button 716, which causes the app to beinstalled within the space as viewed by client device 340B, or thedecline or “no” button 718, which causes the app to not be installed.Each of client devices 340B-N can choose to accept or decline thesuggestion of installation of the application. Some users may select theapplication and some may decline the application. Each of client devices340B-N can also select one or more other apps to suggest to the otherusers.

Once the application is added to the space, client devices 330 and340A-N can visualize a GUI, for instance, virtual space 410, whereapplication 464A becomes visible. Client devices 330 and 340A-N can theninteract with the application 464A. Once one or more applications areinstalled within a workspace, then the users of the workspace may usethe applications to interact with one or more documents. FIG. 8 depictsone such example.

FIG. 8 depicts an example mapping between documents, applications, andclient devices within a persistent hybrid virtual collaborativeworkspace. FIG. 8 depicts mapping 800, which includes documents 830A-N,applications 864A-N, and client devices 840A-N. Within a virtualcollaborative workspace, one or more client devices can open one or moreapplications. Examples of applications include collaborationapplications and document editing applications.

Each installed application can open one or more documents within thespace. Examples of documents include spreadsheets, word processingdocuments, text files, video files, and so forth. Referring back to FIG.4 , a user can select a particular document in GUI 400 for use with theapplication, or select the “Add Document” option to select a newdocument for use.

In the example depicted in FIG. 8 , client device 840A has openedapplication 864A, which has opened document 830B and client device 840Nhas opened application 864N. But applications do not require a documentfor functionality, or that a document always be used. For example,application 864N has not opened a document.

Additionally or alternatively, users may collaborate on an applicationor a document at the same time. For instance, client device 840B mayalso open application 864A and document 830B. In some cases, permissionscan be used for applications and/or documents. FIG. 9 illustrates thisconcept.

FIG. 9 is an example set of permissions used for applications anddocuments within persistent hybrid virtual collaborative workspaces.FIG. 9 depicts permissions tables 900. While tables are depicted in FIG.9 , any kind of data store can be used for permissions, such as adatabase or other file. Video conference provider 310 can control accessto applications and documents, optionally in conjunction with identityprovider 115 or 215.

As can be seen, permissions tables 900 include client device-applicationpermission table 910, client device-document permission table 920, andapplication-document permission table 930. But other combinations ofpermissions for users, client devices, application, and documents can beused.

Each client device may request access to a document and/or anapplication. For instance, a client device may transmit a request tovideo conference provider 310 to access a particular application. Inturn, video conference provider 310 determines access via clientdevice-application permission table 910.

As can be seen, client device-application permission table 910 depictspermission entries for a combination of each client device and eachdocument in the virtual collaborative workspace. For example, as shown,client device 1 can access applications 1 and 3, but not application 2.Client device 2 can access applications 1-3. Continuing the example,video conference provider 310 determines whether access should begranted. Based on the determination, video conference provider eithertransmits an authorization to use or a restriction from use to therequesting client device.

Client device-document permission table 920 provides permission entriesfor a combination of each client device and each document. For example,as shown, client device 1 may access documents 1 and 3, but not document2. Client device 2 may access document 3 but not documents 1 or 2.Similarly as with respect to applications, video conference provider 310receives a request from a client device to access a document. Then,video conference provider 310 accesses client device-document permissiontable 920 to determine whether access should be granted.

In some cases, access to a particular document can be done on anapplication-basis. While a particular document may be accessible to oneor more client devices in the workspace, the document may be restrictedfrom access via a particular application. For instance,application-document permission table 930 provides permissions entriesfor each application 1-3 relative to each document 1-3. For example, asdepicted, client device 2 may access document 2, but application 2 maynot access document 2. Therefore, client device 2 may only accessdocument 2 without using application 2.

Permissions tables 900 can be updated by video conference provider 310and by client devices having permission to change these permissions, byway of video conference provider 310. For instance, a particular clientdevice operating as a host or moderator device may have permission tochange the permission entries.

In some cases, more complex permissions may be used such as separateread and write permissions. For example, a particular application and/orclient device may be able to read a specific document but not write thedocument. This approach may be useful in conferences or spaces with alarge number of users.

Referring now to FIG. 10 , FIG. 10 illustrates an example system 1000for providing persistent hybrid virtual spaces. The system 1000 includesa video conference provider 1010 that has established and is maintaininga virtual space 1050. In addition, multiple client devices are connectedto the video conference provider 1010. One of the client devicesincludes video conferencing equipment installed within a physicalconference room 1030, while two additional client devices 1040A-B arecomputing devices operated by users remote from the conference room1030, but that are connected to the virtual space 1050. In this example,the video conference equipment in the conference room 1030 includes twodisplays 1032A-B and three cameras 1034A-C. In addition, five userdevices 1045 are provided as a part of the video conferencing equipment,which are provided in addition to any user devices the attendees of themeeting may have brought with them. The user devices 1045 are integratedinto the video conferencing equipment to enable users in the conferenceroom 1030 to control different aspects of the video conferencingequipment, such as content presented on the displays 1032A-B orpositioning of one or more of the cameras 1034A-C. The user devices 1045can each execute one or more applications as discussed above, forinstance open apps 664A-B, installed apps 668A-B, and available apps668A-B. An application on a particular user device can interact withapplications on other user's devices within the virtual collaborativeworkspace.

In this example, the conference room 1030 has connected to the videoconference provider 1010 and has attached to the virtual space 1050. Inthis example, the video conferencing equipment includes a computingdevice (not shown) that controls the cameras 1034A-C, the displays1032A-B, and the microphone, which is positioned on the conferencetable, though multiple microphones may be employed in some examples. Inaddition, the computing device may receive instructions from the userdevice 1045 as discussed above, such as to control the displays or thecameras, to access content within the virtual space 410, or to interactwith one or more team members within the virtual space 410.

After connecting to the video conference provider 1010, one of the userscan select a virtual space 1050 to connect to. Once the conference room1030 is connected to the virtual space 1050, other members of thevirtual space 1050 may see that the conference room is attached, such asby being presented with a representation of a video conference, such asthe example video conference representation 450 shown in FIG. 4 . Thus,other members of the virtual space 1050 can see that the meeting isin-progress and can decide whether to observe or join remotely, such asusers of client devices 1040A-B. Further, while this system 1000 showsonly one conference room 1030 connected to the space, in some examples,multiple conference rooms may be connected to the same space in one ormore video conferences. After connecting to the virtual space, the usersmay interact with it, such as by executing one or more applications thathave been assigned to the space via the respective client devices 1045.Further, the applications may be launched using the conference room'scomputing device and the applications presented on one or more of thedisplays 1032A-B within the room, which may enable all of theparticipants in the conference room 1030 to collaborate within thevirtual space using the application(s).

After the meeting has concluded, the participants in the conference room1030 can disconnect from the space, at which time the meeting and acorresponding representation within a GUI may be removed from thevirtual space. However, in some examples, a conference room 1030 mayremain attached after the participants have concluded a meeting, andthus the video conference may persist along with a representation of themeeting within the space. In one such an example, other members of thespace may view the conference room from within the space and interactwith it, such as by observing one or more video feeds from theconference room, such as to review information posted on whiteboards orother physical objects within the conference room 1030, such as apinboard. Thus, the physical conference room may become an extension ofthe virtual space where remote participants can still interact with theconference room, even outside of the context of an active videoconference.

FIG. 11 depicts an example computing device 1100 for providingpersistent hybrid virtual workspaces. Example computing device 1100 issuitable for use in example systems or methods described herein. Theexample computing device 1100 includes a processor 1110 which is incommunication with the memory 1120 and other components of the computingdevice 1100 using one or more communications buses 1102.

The processor 1110 is configured to execute processor-executableinstructions stored in the memory 1120 to perform one or more methodsdescribed herein, such as part or all of the example method 500,described above. The computing device, in this example, also includesone or more user input devices 1150, such as a keyboard, mouse,touchscreen, video input device (e.g., one or more cameras), microphone,etc., to accept user input. The computing device 1100 also includes adisplay 1140 to provide visual output to a user.

The computing device 1100 also includes a communications interface 1130.In some examples, the communications interface 1130 may enablecommunications using one or more networks, including a local areanetwork (“LAN”); wide area network (“WAN”), such as the Internet;metropolitan area network (“MAN”); point-to-point or peer-to-peerconnection; etc. Communication with other devices may be accomplishedusing any suitable networking protocol. For example, one suitablenetworking protocol may include the Internet Protocol (“IP”),Transmission Control Protocol (“TCP”), User Datagram Protocol (“UDP”),or combinations thereof, such as TCP/IP or UDP/IP.

While some examples of methods and systems herein are described in termsof software executing on various machines, the methods and systems mayalso be implemented as specifically-configured hardware, such asfield-programmable gate array (FPGA) specifically to execute the variousmethods according to this disclosure. For example, examples can beimplemented in digital electronic circuitry, or in computer hardware,firmware, software, or in a combination thereof. In one example, adevice may include a processor or processors. The processor comprises acomputer-readable medium, such as a random access memory (RAM) coupledto the processor. The processor executes computer-executable programinstructions stored in memory, such as executing one or more computerprograms. Such processors may comprise a microprocessor, a digitalsignal processor (DSP), an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), and state machines. Suchprocessors may further comprise programmable electronic devices such asPLCs, programmable interrupt controllers (PICs), programmable logicdevices (PLDs), programmable read-only memories (PROMs), electronicallyprogrammable read-only memories (EPROMs or EEPROMs), or other similardevices.

Such processors may comprise, or may be in communication with, media,for example one or more non-transitory computer-readable media, that maystore processor-executable instructions that, when executed by theprocessor, can cause the processor to perform methods according to thisdisclosure as carried out, or assisted, by a processor. Examples ofnon-transitory computer-readable medium may include, but are not limitedto, an electronic, optical, magnetic, or other storage device capable ofproviding a processor, such as the processor in a web server, withprocessor-executable instructions. Other examples of non-transitorycomputer-readable media include, but are not limited to, a floppy disk,CD-ROM, magnetic disk, memory chip, ROM, RAM, ASIC, configuredprocessor, all optical media, all magnetic tape or other magnetic media,or any other medium from which a computer processor can read. Theprocessor, and the processing, described may be in one or morestructures, and may be dispersed through one or more structures. Theprocessor may comprise code to carry out methods (or parts of methods)according to this disclosure.

The foregoing description of some examples has been presented only forthe purpose of illustration and description and is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed.Numerous modifications and adaptations thereof will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of thedisclosure.

Reference herein to an example or implementation means that a particularfeature, structure, operation, or other characteristic described inconnection with the example may be included in at least oneimplementation of the disclosure. The disclosure is not restricted tothe particular examples or implementations described as such. Theappearance of the phrases “in one example,” “in an example,” “in oneimplementation,” or “in an implementation,” or variations of the same invarious places in the specification does not necessarily refer to thesame example or implementation. Any particular feature, structure,operation, or other characteristic described in this specification inrelation to one example or implementation may be combined with otherfeatures, structures, operations, or other characteristics described inrespect of any other example or implementation.

Use herein of the word “or” is intended to cover inclusive and exclusiveOR conditions. In other words, A or B or C includes any or all of thefollowing alternative combinations as appropriate for a particularusage: A alone; B alone; C alone; A and B only; A and C only; B and Conly; and A and B and C.

EXAMPLES

These illustrative examples are mentioned not to limit or define thescope of this disclosure, but rather to provide examples to aidunderstanding thereof. Illustrative examples are discussed above in theDetailed Description, which provides further description. Advantagesoffered by various examples may be further understood by examining thisspecification.

Illustration 1 is a method comprising: establishing a virtualcollaborative workspace characterized by or more virtual collaborativeworkspace resources and associated with a plurality of users; receiving,from a client device associated with a first user associated with thevirtual collaborative workspace, an identification of an application touse in the virtual collaborative workspace; based on the receiving,adding the application to the virtual collaborative workspace andconfiguring the application to access one or more resources associatedwith the virtual collaborative workspace; and providing access to theapplication within the virtual collaborative workspace to at least asubset of the users associated with the virtual collaborative workspace.

Illustration 2 is the method of any previous or subsequent illustration,wherein the resources include one or more of: a list of the plurality ofusers associated with the virtual collaborative workspace, wherein eachuser has an associated user state; a shared document and a correspondingshared document state; at least part of a video stream transmitted bythe client device; or one or more textual messages transmitted by theclient device.

Illustration 3 is the method of any previous or subsequent illustration,further comprising: receiving, from an additional client device, a stateof the application, wherein the state indicates one or more of (i) adocument in use by an instance of the application executing on theadditional client device or (ii) a change to a set of permissions thatspecifies access by a client device to the application or the document;and propagating the state to other client devices.

Illustration 4 is the method of any previous or subsequent illustration,further comprising: receiving a request from a first user associatedwith the virtual collaborative workspace to access the application;determining, based on a set of permissions, that the first user ispermitted to access the application; and in response to thedetermination, transmitting to a first client device associated with thefirst user, an authorization to use the application within the virtualcollaborative workspace.

Illustration 5 is the method of any previous or subsequent illustration,further comprising: receiving a request from a first user associatedwith the virtual collaborative workspace to access the application;determining, based on a set of permissions, that the first user is notpermitted to access the application; and in response to thedetermination, transmitting to a first client device associated with thefirst user, a restriction that disables use of the application by thefirst client device.

Illustration 6 is the method of any previous or subsequent illustration,further comprising: receiving, from an additional client device, arequest to access a document via the application; and transmitting anauthorization to the additional client device enabling an instance ofthe application executing on the additional client device to access thedocument.

Illustration 7 is the method of any previous or subsequent illustration,further comprising: determining, by an additional client device, thatthe application is not installed on the additional client device; andtransmitting to the additional client device, a signal that causes theapplication to be installed on the additional client device.

That which is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium; a communications interface; and a processorcommunicatively coupled to the non-transitory computer-readable mediumand the communications interface, the processor configured to executeprocessor-executable instructions stored in the non-transitorycomputer-readable medium to: establish a virtual collaborativeworkspace, the virtual collaborative workspace configured to maintainone or more virtual collaborative workspace resources and enable one ormore users to interact with other users or virtual collaborativeworkspace resources within the virtual collaborative workspace; receive,via the communications interface and from a client device associatedwith a first user associated with the virtual collaborative workspace,an identification of an application to use in the virtual collaborativeworkspace; based on the receiving, add the application to the virtualcollaborative workspace and configure the application to access one ormore resources associated with the virtual collaborative workspace; andprovide, via the communications interface, access to the applicationwithin the virtual collaborative workspace to at least a subset of theusers associated with the virtual collaborative workspace.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the resources include one or more of: a list of aplurality of users associated with the virtual collaborative workspace,wherein each user has an associated user state; a shared document and acorresponding shared document state; at least part of a video streamtransmitted by the client device; or one or more textual messagestransmitted by the client device.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is further configured to execute processor-executableinstructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium to:receive, via the communications interface and from an additional clientdevice, a state of the application, wherein the state indicates one ormore of (i) a document in use by an instance of the applicationexecuting on the additional client device or (ii) a change to a set ofpermissions that specifies access by a client device to the applicationor the document; and propagate the state to other client devices via thecommunications interface.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein theprocessor is further configured to execute processor-executableinstructions stored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium to:receive, via the communications interface, a request from a first userassociated with the virtual collaborative workspace to access theapplication; determine, based on a set of permissions, that the firstuser is permitted to access the application; and in response to thedetermination, transmit, via the communications interface and to a firstclient device associated with the first user, an authorization to usethe application within the virtual collaborative workspace.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured toexecute processor-executable instructions stored in the non-transitorycomputer-readable medium to: receive, via the communications interface,a request from a first user associated with the virtual collaborativeworkspace to access the application; determine, based on a set ofpermissions, that the first user is not permitted to access theapplication; and in response to the determination, transmit, via thecommunications interface and to a first client device associated withthe first user, a restriction that disables use of the application bythe first client device.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processoris further configured to execute processor-executable instructionsstored in the non-transitory computer-readable medium to: receive, viathe communications interface and from an additional client device, arequest to access a document via the application; and transmit, via thecommunications interface, an authorization to the additional clientdevice enabling an instance of the application executing on theadditional client device to access the document.
 7. The system of claim1, wherein the processor is further configured to executeprocessor-executable instructions stored in the non-transitorycomputer-readable medium to: determine, by an additional client device,that the application is not installed on the additional client device;and transmit, by communications interface and to the additional clientdevice, a signal that causes the application to be installed on theadditional client device.
 8. A method comprising: establishing a virtualcollaborative workspace, the virtual collaborative workspace configuredto maintain one or more virtual collaborative workspace resources andenable one or more users to interact with other users or virtualcollaborative workspace resources within the virtual collaborativeworkspace; receiving, from a client device associated with a first userassociated with the virtual collaborative workspace, an identificationof an application to use in the virtual collaborative workspace; basedon the receiving, adding the application to the virtual collaborativeworkspace and configure the application to access one or more resourcesassociated with the virtual collaborative workspace; and providingaccess to the application within the virtual collaborative workspace toat least a subset of the users associated with the virtual collaborativeworkspace.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the resources include oneor more of: a list of a plurality of users associated with the virtualcollaborative workspace, wherein each user has an associated user state;a shared document and a corresponding shared document state; at leastpart of a video stream transmitted by the client device; or one or moretextual messages transmitted by the client device.
 10. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising: receiving, from an additional clientdevice, a state of the application, wherein the state indicates one ormore of (i) a document in use by an instance of the applicationexecuting on the additional client device or (ii) a change to a set ofpermissions that specifies access by a client device to the applicationor the document; and propagating the state to other client devices. 11.The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving a request from afirst user associated with the virtual collaborative workspace to accessthe application; determining, based on a set of permissions, that thefirst user is permitted to access the application; and in response tothe determination, transmitting to a first client device associated withthe first user, an authorization to use the application within thevirtual collaborative workspace.
 12. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: receiving a request from a first user associated with thevirtual collaborative workspace to access the application; determining,based on a set of permissions, that the first user is not permitted toaccess the application; and in response to the determination,transmitting to a first client device associated with the first user, arestriction that disables use of the application by the first clientdevice.
 13. The method of claim 8, further comprising: receiving, froman additional client device, a request to access a document via theapplication; and transmitting an authorization to the additional clientdevice enabling an instance of the application executing on theadditional client device to access the document.
 14. The method of claim8, further comprising: determining, by an additional client device, thatthe application is not installed on the additional client device; andtransmitting to the additional client device, a signal that causes theapplication to be installed on the additional client device.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium comprising processor-executableinstructions configured to cause one or more processors to: establish avirtual collaborative workspace, the virtual collaborative workspaceconfigured to maintain one or more virtual collaborative workspaceresources and enable one or more users to interact with other users orvirtual collaborative workspace resources within the virtualcollaborative workspace; receive, via a communications interface andfrom a client device associated with a first user associated with thevirtual collaborative workspace, an identification of an application touse in the virtual collaborative workspace; based on the receiving, addthe application to the virtual collaborative workspace and configure theapplication to access one or more resources associated with the virtualcollaborative workspace; and provide, via the communications interface,access to the application within the virtual collaborative workspace toat least a subset of the users associated with the virtual collaborativeworkspace.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the processor-executable instructions are further configured tocause one or more processors to: receive, via the communicationsinterface and from an additional client device, a state of theapplication, wherein the state indicates one or more of (i) a documentin use by an instance of the application executing on the additionalclient device or (ii) a change to a set of permissions that specifiesaccess by a client device to the application or the document; andpropagate the state via the communications interface to other clientdevices.
 17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the processor-executable instructions are further configured tocause one or more processors to: receive, via the communicationsinterface, a request from a first user associated with the virtualcollaborative workspace to access the application; determine, based on aset of permissions, that the first user is permitted to access theapplication; and in response to the determination, transmit, via thecommunications interface and to a first client device associated withthe first user, an authorization to use the application within thevirtual collaborative workspace.
 18. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the processor-executableinstructions are further configured to cause one or more processors to:receive, via the communications interface, a request from a first userassociated with the virtual collaborative workspace to access theapplication; determine, based on a set of permissions, that the firstuser is not permitted to access the application; and in response to thedetermination, transmit, via the communications interface and to a firstclient device associated with the first user, a restriction thatdisables use of the application by the first client device.
 19. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein theprocessor-executable instructions are further configured to cause one ormore processors to: receive, via the communications interface and froman additional client device, a request to access a document via theapplication; and transmit, via the communications interface, anauthorization to the additional client device enabling an instance ofthe application executing on the additional client device to access thedocument.
 20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the processor-executable instructions are further configured tocause one or more processors to: determine, by an additional clientdevice, that the application is not installed on the additional clientdevice; and transmit, by communications interface and to the additionalclient device, a signal that causes the application to be installed onthe additional client device.